Recent club tourneys

Had a club tourney this weekend at Hardy Lake in southern Indiana. Should be
called Hardly Lake, as in hardly any big fish. 2.0 was big bass and good for
second place. I managed first place with two keepers on a jig weighing 3.7
total and that let me climb to first place in the club points standings. Only
7 fish weighed in by 6 guys. 12 guys blanked. Tons of short fish were caught
though.

There was no pattern as fish came from wood, pads, grass and rock banks and
water anywhere from 1' to 12' deep and on several different baits. The weather
was probably the biggest factor in so few fish caught. The highs went from
humid low 90's midweek to the high 60's and windy come tournament time. I
thought this was July?!?!?!?

Last month we fished Raccoon in west central Indiana and barkley in Kentucky.
I managed 2 keepers at Raccoon for about 4.5 lbs. Caught tons of fish though,
just most being short of the 16" limit. All came on a full sized brushhog
where riprap changed to bare clay/gravel bottom on points. As soon as the bait
dropped off the riprap edge, bang a fish was on and they hit hard. I would
have loved to have the practice fish I caught though the day before though -
one was over 5 and the other over 3. They were the only two hooksets I made
that day, the others I was successful at shaking off.

Later in June at Barkley I got 3 nice keeper fish for 9.4 lbs and first place,
most in the Little River area. There fish everywhere. Every break, point,
hump, roadbed..they all held fish and they were hammering Crigged Brushogs - no
hook set necessary. I think I used about 5 bag of baits in two days. Between
my partners and I we managed a bite about every 10-15 minutes. Big bass for
that tourney was nice 5.5.

Weather and water conditions at Raccoon and Barkley were perfect with sunny
days in the mid 80's and water temps of 80 degrees.

So, 1/2 way through the club season I'm sitting in 1st with a slim 6 point lead
over second place. Next up comes back to back tourneys at Patoka, then the St.
Joe River, the Ohio River and the White River in Indianapolis.

Brad Coovert
2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
http://www.greenfieldbassmasters.com

Hey Brad! Nice job lately too!

If I can offer a bit of advice: Why stick fish while prefishing the day
before a tourney? Doesn't make much sense. Shake em off or dont prefish.
Sticking em just lowers your chance of catching those bass during the
competition, and some theorize that it shakes up other bass in the area too.

Good luck the rest of the way bud.

Warren

"Brad Coovert" wrote in message
...
Had a club tourney this weekend at Hardy Lake in southern Indiana. Should
be
called Hardly Lake, as in hardly any big fish. 2.0 was big bass and good
for
second place. I managed first place with two keepers on a jig weighing
3.7
total and that let me climb to first place in the club points standings.
Only
7 fish weighed in by 6 guys. 12 guys blanked. Tons of short fish were
caught
though.

There was no pattern as fish came from wood, pads, grass and rock banks
and
water anywhere from 1' to 12' deep and on several different baits. The
weather
was probably the biggest factor in so few fish caught. The highs went
from
humid low 90's midweek to the high 60's and windy come tournament time. I
thought this was July?!?!?!?

Last month we fished Raccoon in west central Indiana and barkley in
Kentucky.
I managed 2 keepers at Raccoon for about 4.5 lbs. Caught tons of fish
though,
just most being short of the 16" limit. All came on a full sized brushhog
where riprap changed to bare clay/gravel bottom on points. As soon as the
bait
dropped off the riprap edge, bang a fish was on and they hit hard. I
would
have loved to have the practice fish I caught though the day before
though -
one was over 5 and the other over 3. They were the only two hooksets I
made
that day, the others I was successful at shaking off.

Later in June at Barkley I got 3 nice keeper fish for 9.4 lbs and first
place,
most in the Little River area. There fish everywhere. Every break,
point,
hump, roadbed..they all held fish and they were hammering Crigged
Brushogs - no
hook set necessary. I think I used about 5 bag of baits in two days.
Between
my partners and I we managed a bite about every 10-15 minutes. Big bass
for
that tourney was nice 5.5.

Weather and water conditions at Raccoon and Barkley were perfect with
sunny
days in the mid 80's and water temps of 80 degrees.

So, 1/2 way through the club season I'm sitting in 1st with a slim 6 point
lead
over second place. Next up comes back to back tourneys at Patoka, then
the St.
Joe River, the Ohio River and the White River in Indianapolis.

Brad Coovert
2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
http://www.greenfieldbassmasters.com

If I can offer a bit of advice: Why stick fish while prefishing the day
before a tourney? Doesn't make much sense. Shake em off or dont prefish.
Sticking em just lowers your chance of catching those bass during the
competition, and some theorize that it shakes up other bass in the area too.

Actually, one of them would not let go of the bait. I honestly tried and tried
to get him off. After a while, I said to heck with it and brought him in. The
other was my first bite of the day and the only hookset I planned. I gotta
catch at least one fish while I'm out ;-)

Seriously though, I seldom abuse fish prefishing. Just ask Andrew.

Good luck the rest of the way bud.


Thanks!


Brad Coovert
2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
http://www.greenfieldbassmasters.com

Brad where are you fishing the st. joe at?

Brad where are you fishing the st. joe at?

Out of Six Span Bridge in Elkhart.

September 26th.


Brad Coovert
2003 Angler of the Year, Greenfield Bassmasters
http://www.greenfieldbassmasters.com